Respiratory disorders include diseases that affect the air passages, which may include the nasal passages, the bronchi, and/or lungs. These diseases may range from acute infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis, to chronic conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According the World Health Organization, 235 million people worldwide currently suffer from asthma. More than 3 million people worldwide died of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) in 2005. Further, chronic lower respiratory diseases are the third leading cause of death in the United States while nearly one of every five deaths each year in the United States is caused due to adverse health effects from cigarette smoking, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Currently, some of the common treatments employed for respiratory disorders include bronchodilators to open the airways, and steroids and other anti-inflammatory medications to reduce lung inflammation. These treatments only manage symptoms of the disorders, and do not offer a cure. Both bronchodilators and steroids may have undesirable side effects. Particularly, bronchodilators have been known to cause anxiety, muscle tremor, nervousness and palpitations. Further, the United States Food and Drug Administration has reported that some of the bronchodilators may make breathing more difficult. Similarly, corticosteroids may cause systemic side effects such as impaired growth in children, decreased bone mineral density, skin thinning and bruising and cataracts, as well as respiratory infection, weight gain and pharyngitis. Further, corticosteroids only work in about 10% of patients with COPD and are mostly prescribed for asthma management.
Commercially available inhalers may suffer from drawbacks ranging from inaccuracy of dose administered and use of propellants to loss of administered drug to the atmosphere. Further, currently available inhalers are only used for disease management and not treatment or cure of a respiratory disorder.